Cuz I Said Sew chronicles the adventures of a seamstress and her software engineer alter ego. Join them as they create spooky goth blouses, fun vintage-inspired dresses, and silly costumes.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Yo Dawg, I Heard You Liked Sewing

For those of you who haven't heard, the greater DC area, was the center of a major snowstorm over the weekend. I don't know what our official totals were, but the meteorologists were projecting two to three feet, and I had a snow drift up to the top of garage. Thankfully, I didn't lose power, and I'm waiting for the plows to come through (which they haven't since Friday night).

This fabric was a gift from The Boyfriend. We had gone to Joann's shortly after Christmas because he wanted to peruse their outdoor fabric for his boat. I saw this and cooed over it, but declined to buy it. I ran off to work the next day and he went back and bought it for me, leaving it in my sewing room. I only discovered it a week and a half ago, which tells you how frequently I go in my sewing room these days.

So the combination of being snowed in (I couldn't open my door because the snow was piled so high. I had to take the glass pane out.) and four yards of lovely fabric in the stash that was calling to me makes for Snow Day Sewing.

The first task was to find a pattern in the stash that used four yards (ish) of fabric. It's a weird amount; they're usually 2 to 2.5 or 5+. I ended up settling for an old favorite, Simplicity 2884, which was also the Nevermore dress. This was View A, as opposed to B. The differences are the halter (A ties and B attaches with buttons) and the skirt (A is longer and pleated, whereas B is gathered). This one went together much faster, probably only slightly from previous experience with it, and mostly because I am not suffering through a divorce like the first time I made this.

I did change how the bodice was constructed so I can slip in bra cups later, so the lining isn't entirely sewn in (which is why the bodice looks somewhat, um, deflated). I'm going to need to get the beige-ish ones, because white will show through the cream-colored fabric. Surprisingly, I had cream thread in the stash (not sure from what). The zipper is actually white, and it came from a pillow cover that had torn. I ripped the zipper out before throwing the cover in the compost, originally intending to throw it away. The fabric might have been shot, but the zipper as perfectly functional, so into the stash it went. Good thing too, because I have a bunch of black zippers in the stash and one in navy blue (the doomed zipper from the elf dress).

Thank you, The Boyfriend! If you can't be snowed in with me, making a dress out of your thoughtful gift is a nice substitute.

That's awesome fabric, and I like the pattern you chose to make with it. How did the boyfriend not give it away that he'd left it in your sewing room, especially when you hadn't discovered for a couple of weeks? THAT is restraint! LOL